


The Rot

by INMH



Series: hc_bingo fanfiction fills 2020 [5]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Blood, F/M, Implied Relationships, Infection, Post-Game(s), Strong Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24933535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INMH/pseuds/INMH
Summary: Post RE2 Remake. “How long has it been since you changed the bandages?”
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Claire Redfield
Series: hc_bingo fanfiction fills 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789369
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	The Rot

“That doesn’t look good.”  
  
It took a moment, but eventually Leon forced his eyes open and blinked, vision a little blurry. Claire came into focus, looking at him with evident concern.  
  
Leon hadn’t even realized that he’d started to doze.  
  
Claire reached out, gently brushing his bandaged shoulder with her fingers. Leon winced and drew back- even the light touch had been uncomfortable. “How long has it been since you changed the bandages?”  
  
“Uh…”  
  
Damn. Kinda hard to remember.  
  
“…Not sure.”  
  
Claire smiled. “We should probably do something about that.” She offered him a hand, and Leon took it; his body felt curiously heavy and unsteady, and his head felt strange as he followed Claire down the hall to the bathroom.  
  
“What time is it?” He asked, when they passed a window and he saw that it was dark out.  
  
“Mm- nine o’ clock, a little after?”  
  
_Nine o’ clock?_ No wonder he hadn’t seen Sherry; Claire had probably put her to bed already. Last Leon could remember it had been five o’ clock; he’d sat down in that chair right after dinner. Exhaustion had settled over him like a blanket, and sitting down and shutting his eyes had seemed like the only reasonable option. Even now his eyes were still heavy as he sat down on top of the toilet seat and let Claire start unwinding the bandages.  
  
The closer she got to the end, the more it started to hurt. When she reached the final layer of bandage, Leon cringed and clenched his teeth as it began to tug on the skin; Claire whispered apologies as she carefully pealed the fabric away, finally revealing the wound. “Oh, wow,” She said, pulling a face. “It’s… Just a _bit_ worse than I thought it would be, Leon. Just a bit.”  
  
Leon shakily rose to his feet, turning towards the mirror over the sink. He recoiled when he saw what his shoulder had become, a mess of red and yellow and white, enough to make his stomach turn. No wonder it was throbbing so badly. “Shit,” he whispered, falling to sit back on the toilet seat and wincing when the shock of the impact radiated to his shoulder. “That’s not good.”  
  
“No, it’s not.” Claire was chewing her lip, probably thinking the same thing he was: This was a wound that needed actual medical attention, and they were making an effort for now to stay low-key. Raccoon City and Umbrella’s facilities there had been destroyed, but there was no way of knowing what the corporation knew about them, or about Sherry; besides, the people who have fled Raccoon City aren’t terribly popular right now. The news has had plenty of stories about people lashing out at survivors or actively avoiding them for fear that the T-Virus might be lurking in their blood, waiting to strike.  
  
No, it’s best to avoid doctors for now.  
  
“I might,” Claire said, looking over the wound without touching it, “be able to hunt down some antibiotics tomorrow. I can try, anyway. If not… Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”  
  
For now, the solution was washing the wound and disinfecting it as much as possible, a process that left Leon biting down on a towel as Claire profusely apologized, cringing every time he made a sound. It seemed to take an eternity, but eventually she had the infected mess bandaged and contained again. Leon couldn’t even move his arm from the throbbing soreness that the cleaning and bandaging had brought up. “Holy shit, that’s rough,” he whispered, grimacing as each unsteady step made the pain spike.  
  
Claire’s hand was warm on the small of his back. “You should probably go to bed.”  
  
Leon nodded, wordless.  
  
When he finally managed to get to bed, he had to lie down on his right side so the bad shoulder wasn’t pressing into the bed. A layer of sweat had formed on his forehead, though whether it was from the pain or the exhaustion or a low-level fever was hard to tell. Leon barely noticed when Claire climbed into the bed with him, only really registered her presence when she moved to lie alongside him, guiding him to lean against her. He placed his head on her shoulder, and hers came to lean against his.  
  
“I’ll do my best to get antibiotics tomorrow,” she whispered.  
  
“Mm-hm.”  
  
Leon fell asleep with her heart beating in his ear.  
  
-End


End file.
